Iranian Americans mark Persian New Year with a mix of sadness and joy

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After thousands of Iranian demonstrators were killed in a January crackdown, Shima Razavi Gacek wanted to keep alive her family's favorite springtime holiday traditions but didn’t feel like throwing her annual house party with a roaring bonfire ahead of Nowruz — the Persian New Year.

Instead, the 46-year-old Los Angeles resident organized a vigil Tuesday night at a local park, where the photos of slain protesters were displayed and dozens of Iranian Americans lit candles and took turns hopping over tea lights in a version of a fire-jumping tradition known as Chaharshanbe Suri.

“It is such a beautiful and joyous time of year," said Razavi Gacek, who has lived in the United States since she was 5. "This year, it’s not, but we need our community more than ever.”

Iranian Americans are marking Nowruz this year with a mix of somber celebrations and the traditional flowers, music and dancing. Many communities canceled festivities following the crackdown on protesters in January, while others have organized smaller, quieter versions of the usually joyous celebration.

The holiday comes less than a month after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, conflict has spread throughout the region.

Nowruz means “new day” in Farsi, the language typically spoken in Iran. The holiday that coincides with the spring equinox is rooted in Zoroastrian tradition dating back millennia and is celebrated from Afghanistan to Turkey. Iranians of diverse religious faiths mark Nowruz even though the hard-line Iranian regime has at times discouraged festivities.

It is also celebrated in the United States, including in Los Angeles, which is home to nearly a third of the country's 750,000 Iranian Americans, and in Nashville, Tennessee, with the largest Kurdish community in the nation.

Many communities have canceled planned Nowruz parties and events since Iran’s deadly crackdown on demonstrations.

In New York, a group of elderly Iranian American women called off their celebration, which they host at a suburban shopping mall 25 miles (40 kilometers) outside Manhattan.

“People are not in the mood to celebrate the New Year," said Marjan Khalili, president of the Long Island Ladies Association. "That’s what Nowruz is -- we welcome the New Year, and now we really don’t have much to welcome, you know?”

Shani Moslehi, chief executive of the Orange County Iranian American Chamber of Commerce in Southern California, said her group scratched plans for an annual party and is teaming up with a mental health clinic to provide support to community members dealing with the stress of the war and inability to communicate with family in Iran.

“Everyone I hear from is not doing well,” Moslehi said. “The dancing and singing lasted a day, and people realized just killing that one guy is not going to solve the problem.”

Some community organizations felt compelled to carry on with Nowruz traditions but have tempered them to meet the moment.

At New York University, the student-run Persian Cultural Society held a vigil with speeches and poems in place of its annual Nowruz celebration and asked attendees to dress in black rather than the festive colors normally favored during the holiday.

In Los Angeles, organizers called off an outdoor festival that typically draws thousands and instead held a concert titled “Light Always Prevails.” It featured an Iranian female vocalist who was barred from singing after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and an Iranian-American performing in Persian for the first time, said Shahab Paranj, artistic director of the Iranshahr Orchestra.

It is now more vital than ever to celebrate Nowruz in defiance of the Islamic regime, said Hedi Yousefi, who organized a Norooz Bazaar in Manhattan that showcased vendors and artists, and displayed a memorial wall listing the names of some 3,000 people killed in January.

“They want us to be quiet. They want us to shut up and don’t talk and celebrate,” she said. “But we have to talk about our culture, we have to keep our tradition alive.”

In the Nashville area, where the local Kurdish community hails from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, organizers are planning an event meant to show solidarity with people across the war-torn region.

“It’s not going to be a grief celebration or a sad celebration,” said Tabeer Taabur, president of the Tennessee Kurdish Community Council.

At the park in Los Angeles, scores of people shared dinner at picnic tables covered with white tablecloths and a display of sprouts, fruit and flowers. They took turns jumping over small fires burning in tins to mark the changing of the year.

Mojan Gabbay, 50, lit a candle at the table honoring Iranian demonstrators, then walked across the patio to hop over an aluminum pan filled with burning tree bark, and smiled. She said she doesn't always celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri but felt moved this year to keep up the tradition for her two children.

“I wanted my kids to know where their roots are from and everything that's going on has really touched our hearts,” Gabbay said, holding back tears. "These are your people and when you hear their pain and when you see their suffering, you feel it."

Marcelo reported from New York. Associated Press writer Adam Geller in New York contributed.

People read the names of Iranian lives that were lost during a gathering in New York, on Saturday, March 14, 2026, for the upcoming Nowruz, Iranian/Persian New Year's day. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Forough Jafari hugs a visitor at a dedicated memorial space for the lives lost in Iran during a gathering in New York, on Saturday, March 14, 2026, for the upcoming Nowruz, Iranian/Persian New Year's day. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Hand written messages are posted on a tree, part of a dedicated memorial space for the lives lost in Iran, during a gathering in New York, on Saturday, March 14, 2026, for the upcoming Nowruz, Iranian/Persian New Year's day. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

People interact with a dedicated memorial space to Iranian lives that were lost during a gathering in New York, on Saturday, March 14, 2026, for the upcoming Nowruz, Iranian/Persian New Year's day. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul won a vote in Parliament on Thursday to remain in office, according to an official tally.

The leader of the Bhumjaithai Party garnered 293 votes, exceeding the required majority of the 498 members who attended the session in the House of Representatives.

Anutin is expected to take office a few days after obtaining a formal appointment from King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the new cabinet is expected to be appointed in the following weeks.

Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party won 191 seats in February's general election, according to official results, and has since built a coalition with several other parties to form a governing majority. Among those partners is the populist Pheu Thai Party, which placed third with 74 seats.

The progressive People’s Party, which finished second with 120 seats, has said it will not join the Bhumjaithai-led government. Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut received 119 votes after being nominated in what the party said was only a symbolic contest.

Anutin and Natthaphong were among the 86 lawmakers who abstained from voting Thursday.

Anutin, 59, became prime minister only in September after serving in the Cabinet of his immediate predecessor, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was forced out of office for an ethics violation regarding mishandling relations with Cambodia. Anutin dissolved Parliament in December to call an early election after he was threatened with a no-confidence vote.

He has since seen a surge in popularity following his self-presentation as a defender of the nation during the Thailand-Cambodia border conflict, which strengthened nationalist sentiment among voters.

Thailand fought with Cambodia twice last year over competing territorial claims along their border.

The incoming government is expected to face immediate challenges. A war in the Middle East that broke out in February has driven up global energy prices, increasing the cost of goods and raising concerns about a potential oil shortage.

Another political uncertainty also arose after the Constitutional Court said Wednesday it would rule whether last month’s election should be invalidated.

The case stems from a petition filed by the Ombudsman’s Office against the Election Commission, alleging the inclusion of barcodes and QR codes on ballot papers could compromise voter anonymity in violation of election laws requiring a secret ballot.

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul arrives at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Pheu Thai party leader Julapun Amornvivat, center, gesture as he arrives at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Yodchanun Wongsawat from Pheu Thai Party arrives at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A worker cleans the desk for Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)